Bath-tub and method of attaching feet thereto.



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J. A. LEFFERTS. BATH TUB AND METHOD OF ATTAGHING FEET THERETO.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 1904.

PATENTED MAR. 14, 1905.

fizyazzz an' 77 iifsigf UNITED STATES Patented March 14, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

BATH-TUB AND METHOD OF IATTACHING FEET THERETO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,746, dated March14, 1905.

Application filed May 20, 1904- Serial No. 208,842.

T0 (ZZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN A. LEFFERTs,a citizen of the United States,residing in Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bath-Tubs andMethods of Attaching Feet Thereto, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention is directed to bath-tubs, their manufacture, and methodof attaching feet to the same; and while preferably directed primarilyto bath-tubs the invention comprehends all such analogous devices assinks, washstands, &c.

Bath-tubs and the like are usually provided with detachable feet orlegs, and for this purpose the body of the article is usuallyprovidedwith a plurality of lugs 0r bosses, which according to thepresentpreferred mode of manufacture are preferably cast integral withsuch body. Some of these lugs provide a point of attachment for the leg,while others operate as stops for determining the positioning of thedetachable member. These articles, usually cast from iron, are intendedto be enameled, and for this purpose the said article is subjected toheating and cooling processes.

If, therefore, these aforementioned lugs are numerous and contain inthemselves a greater thickness of material than the wall of the body,

it is highly difficult to cool off the body with any degree ofuniformity, the result being that when one portion of that body coolsoff faster than another, the active contraction of the rapidly-coolingpart against the less active contraction of the slower-cooling partcauses the enamel to check or crack at the provided with removable legsof such construction as regards the formation of that portion of the tubto which the legs are applied and as to the construction of the legitself and the way in which it is combined with the tub as to providefor the proper and successful enameling of the inner surface of the tuband a smooth and acceptable finish in appearance of the exterior of thetub with the legs thereon when the tub is completed and ready for themarket.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide aspecially-arranged boss on the body and a specially-devised lug on theleg whereby in combination they will effect rigid securement of said legto said body.

An embodiment of the present invention is set forth on the accompanyingsheet of drawings, whereonf Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of abath-tub with its legs or feet attached. Fig. 2 illustrates aperspective view of the legs. Fig. 3 is an elevation in section,illustrating how the leg may be attached to the body. Fig. 4 is aninverted perspective view showing a form of boss on the body, and Fig. 5illustrates in section the. leg attached to the body and also is thefleXure of the body at the point of attachment, illustrateddiagrammatically.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe various views.

It will be remembered thatin the manufacture of. bath-tubs made ofcast-iron, for which class of bath-tubs my present improvements areespecially applicable, it is important that all parts of the tub shallbe as nearly as possible of one uniform thickness throughout, so that onthe heating and cooling of the tub in the process of manufacture, andespecially in the process of enameling, theheating and cooling of allportions of the enameled'surfaces shall be uniform and equal. Inpractice it is found that thickened portions or projections, such ashubs or bosses projecting therefrom. if these extend over anyconsiderable area of the wall of the tub, receive and distribute heatdifferently from the plate-like portions of the tub which adjoin suchprojection. These variations result in defects difficult to eliminate,

that in the preferred form of my present improvement the thickness ofthe transverselydisposed wall 1 of the leg-retaining projection 3 is ofthe same thickness as the wall 1 of the tub itself, so that the heatingand cooling will be effected with a high degree of uniformity throughoutthat entire portion of the bath-tub. The leg 5 of the tub is also formedwith an extended and relatively thin edge 6, which is arranged to bearupon the surface 7 of the tub out of contact with any thickened portionor projection thereon. For holding the leg in place a projection or arm8, having therein a bolt-receiving hole, as 9, extends inwardly from thesaid leg 5, and said arm 8 extends from a broad and flaring portion 10of the wall 11 of the leg 5, by which arrangement the upper portion 12of said leg 5 is broadened to give a firm and stable support thereto,said retaining-arm 8 of the leg 5 being connected with the inclinedportion at 13 of the forward or outer part of the leg and is welldisposed in the general combination for receiving a ,very high degree ofstress without liability of breakage.

It will be observed that, as shown in the sectional view Fig. 3, the leg5 is prevented from movement toward the righthand in said figure by thewall of the leg coming directly in front of the said retainingprojection 3 of the tub. This projection is formed with a bifurcatedchannel or slot 1 1 for receiving the bolt-head 15, which is adapted tocome close to the rearward end 16 of said slot, so that the leg ispositively located in a fixed position on the tub, since said projection8 on the top surface has a stop device 17 for locking the tub in onedirection, and the bolt in said slot 14 affords a stop device againstmovement in the opposite direction. Thus by a peculiar construction andcombination of these details the leg is positively located in bothdirections. by the retaining device, by which saidleg is held in placeon the tub, and by this new and peculiar feature the location of saidleg is determined without the employment of any other or supplementalguides or locating-stops.

A further feature of my present improvements relates to'means inconnection with the foregoing features of construction whereby the legis prevented from rotary movement or displacement on the tub, and. forthis purpose the said arm of the leg is provided with flanges or guides18 and 19, respectively, which are shown provided with inclined innerfaces 20 and 21, arranged to bear upon correspondingly-inclined outerfaces 22 and 23 of the aforesaid projection or boss 3 on the tub.

When the nut 24 is tightened upon the bolt 25 passing through the arm 8,it. will cause the inner inclined faces 20 and 21 of the legarm 8 tobind rigidly upon the outer inclined walls 22 and 23 of the bosses 3,whereby there is rigid securement of the leg to the body and theliability of the coming off of the nut 24 is lessened. In thisconnection it will be obvious that by the curved wall at theleg-attaching portions of the body a slight flexibility (indicated bydotted lines 30 in Fig. 5) may be had without injury to the enamel andthat the strain of the attaching-bolt 24 on the arm of the leg forholding this arm firmly onto the projection 8 said projectionv willnaturally be drawn downward until its engaging surfaces bear firmly onthe guide-surfaces 22 and 23 of theleg-arm. By this meansthe-leg may berigidly held onto and: definitely located on the tub. Furthermore, thestress of the bolt applied in the manner setforth naturally operates toslightly flex the wall of the bath-tub in that portion thereof to whichthe leg is attached, thereby bringing the outer edges of the leg firmlyinto contact with the bottom wall of the bath-tub and at the same timebringing the several bearing-surfaces already referred to intocorrespondingly firm engagement with the outer portion of the legitself.

By means of my present improvements it is made practicable toprovide abath-tub with legs firmly secured thereto and without requiring thebath-tub to be made with any portion of greater thickness than thegeneral thickness of the wall throughout the tub. By this means theheating and cooling of all portions of the tub in the process ofmanufacture is made uniform, and the interference of unequal heating andcooling and unequal expansion and contraction by reason of varyingthicknesses is prevented from impairing the success of the enamelingoperation.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. A bath-tub havingdetachable feet, bosses thereon comprising three walls inclined onetoward the other, and a base provided with a bifurcation, and said feeteach having arms provided with two inclined walls adapted to bind uponthe outside of two of the first-mentioned inclined walls, and clampingmeans adapted to take in said bifurcation, which means bind upon theupper side of each boss and on the under side of each arm.

IOC

2. Abath-tubhavingdetachablefeet, bosses bolt binds upon the upper sideof each boss thereon comprising three Walls inclined one and on theunder side of each arm. IO toward the other, and a base provided with aSigned at Nos. 9 to 15 Murray street, New bifurcation, and said feeteach having arms York, N. Y., this 18th day of May, 1904.

5 provided with two inclined walls adapted to JOHN A. LEFFERTS. bindupon the outside of two of the first-men- \Vitnesses: A tioned inclinedwalls, and a, clamping-bolt FRED. W. BARNACLO,

adapted to take in said bifurcation, which JOHN O. SEIFERT.

